USOC Final: Revolution 4, Red Bulls 2

Rowe leads Revs into the quarterfinals with another two-goal performance

June 12, 2013

Jeff Lemieux

BOSTON – The New England Revolution booked its place in the quarterfinal round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 4-2 win over the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night at a sold-out Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium on the campus of Harvard University.

Kelyn Rowe led the way for the Revs with his second straight two-goal performance in the Open Cup, notching a pair of fantastic individual goals in the first half. Dimitry Imbongo and Chris Tierney scored second-half goals for the Revs, who’ll now meet D.C. United in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, June 26 at Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md.

Fabian Espindola and Jonny Steele scored either side of halftime for New York, which saw its Open Cup run end in the fourth round.

Rowe wasted little time continuing his strong form in the Open Cup as he opened the scoring with a fine bit of individual skill after just four minutes. Following a bit of interplay with Gabe Latigue down the right wing, Rowe skipped inside and drilled a left-footed shot inside the near post, past diving Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara.

New England’s attack was flowing in the early stages and the Revs twice threatened to add a second before the game was 20 minutes old. Ryan Guy forced a strong save from Meara when his deflected drive found the target, while the rebound from Latigue’s tight-angle shot was just out of the reach of Andy Dorman soon thereafter.

Meara continued to be busy and came up with a big save in the 26th minute when Rowe stung another drive from distance, setting the stage for the Red Bulls to equalize against the run of play four minutes later. Espindola latched onto a misplaced back pass, getting to the loose ball before the charging Matt Reis and slotting into the empty net to make it 1-1.

It took the Revs just seven minutes to restore their lead, however, as Rowe found the back of the net again after yet another surging individual run. After picking up the ball near midfield, Rowe ran straight at the Red Bulls backline with pace before hitting a shot back across the face of goal and inside the left post.

The halftime break didn’t slow down the Revs, who extended their lead to 3-1 through Imbongo in the 51st minute. The sequence started with a hopeful long ball from Kalifa Cisse, but Imbongo powered his way onto the pass and found a way to finish past Meara from close range.

New York pulled a goal back just 10 minutes later when Steele escaped his marker at the back post and calmly headed home Eric Alexander’s tempting right-wing cross, making it 3-2 heading into the final half-hour.

Although the Red Bulls generated a few half-chances in their bid to equalize, Tierney put the result beyond doubt in the 87th minute when he finished Guy’s low pass across the face of goal to complete a sequence which began with a long throw-in from Darrius Barnes.

The Revs return to league action this weekend when they’ll visit Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday night. Kickoff from BC Place is set for 10 p.m. ET.